How Do You Define Success as an Author? ©2007 Cheryl Kaye Tardif
By Jerry D. Simmons | November 25th, 2007 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
Often, authors define success by pre-set industry standards, like making the New York Times bestseller list, selling 100,000+ copies, having a movie made from a novel, or being invited to be a guest on Oprah. Certainly, those ARE successes and are not to be taken lightly. It is a long haul to achieve any of these, but with persistence and dedication, nothing is beyond your reach. And if you count the smaller successes, the journey will be far more satisfying. From the time of conception of a story idea, you will benefit from setting smaller goals. Setting realistic and attainable goals will ensure that you don’t set yourself up for failure.
Here are 10 tips that will help you achieve success:
1. Finish writing and editing your book. Many writers give up part way through. Don’t give up! See it, believe it and achieve it. Put it aside for a month, then go back and edit again. This becomes your first success. You have done something many people only dream of doing.
2. Have your book professionally edited. If you want longevity as a writer, you must treat this like a career. This means that even self-published, author-originated works must be edited professionally by someone who knows HOW to edit. If you put out an inferior product you will lose fans and sales, and bookstores will not promote you. If you’re going to do this, do it right! You are competing with every other book out there.
3. Once your book is published, promote the heck out of it! Too many authors leave marketing up to their publisher. This is your baby, no one else’s. Not even a publisher can market your book as well as you can, and if you don’t know how, LEARN.
4. Create a solid internet identity. What will we find if we Google your name right now? Will we find someone else with the same name who sells lawn ornaments? Are there 10 hits? 1000? 100,000? Check out this article: http://ezinearticles.com/?Creating-an-Internet-Identity—For-Authors&id=90814
5. Blog every day. Or at the very least, 3 times a week, on numerous blogs. Blogging about anything sells books. Readers like to see the human side of their favorite authors, so blogging should not be a hardcore sales pitch every post. Find a controversial or thematic angle within your book and blog about that. My novel Whale Song dealt with assisted suicide. I not only researched the topic, but I blogged about it and was then contacted by a radio station because of my blog post and then was interviewed.
6. Hold a virtual book tour. VBT’s are an excellent and inexpensive way to get the word out about your book. Other bloggers are now promoting YOU. Check out this article: http://openhorizons.blogspot.com/2007/09/authors-tour-world-with-virtual-book.html
7. Sell your book on a specific day by holding a contest. If you ask people to order from one major retailer, like Amazon.com for instance, on a specific day and offer them some kind of incentive, you will have the opportunity to make Amazon’s bestsellers list. Pick a day, offer a prize they can’t turn down (remember: never make your book your prize—at least, not the book you are trying to promote) and have a proof of purchase to ensure sales are submitted on one day. Once you make Amazon’s list (and don’t forget, books are broken into categories), you can say you’re a “bestselling author” with a “bestselling novel”. That statement alone attracts more success.
8. Find out where your readers are. The goal is not to have your book in every bookstore. First, very few books achieve that. Second, having them in a store is no good if no one is buying them. So find out where your readers are. If you write mysteries, find out where mystery readers meet in your town. Become a guest author at a book club. Look for online reading groups or sites like GoodReads.com and start schmoozing with readers.
9. Cultivate personal relationships with bookstore staff. Most authors underestimate the power of signing books in a store. Too many authors focus entirely on sales, or lack of sales. Forget sales! Think about relationships instead—with store staff, customers and potential fans. That is what is important. When you build these relationships you will have store staff who will hand sell your book and go out of their way to promote you, invite you to special events and feature you on special front-end shelves that most publishers have to pay for. Customers can turn into media contacts and interviews. Potential fans can turn into lifelong fans who will buy everything you write and recommend you to their family and friends.
10. Contact media for every event or set of events. If holding a bunch of signings during October, call it your “fall tour” and promote it. Send out press releases to local TV, radio, newspapers and magazines. Send out online releases to services like http://www.24-7pressrelease.com and free online services. Just Google ‘press distribution services’. Many authors consider interviews a form of success, and the more you create a need for your area of expertise (whether writing, getting published, or a particular theme from your book), the more media will want to interview you.
Success is a personal quest. One author’s success might be to publish the family memoir or cookbook for future generations. Your idea of success might be to sell enough books to make your money back. Or it could be to capture the attention of a New York publishing company, or a Hollywood film producer. Success can also be measured in the emails you receive, the ones that tell you how much your book affected them, or how it healed a broken relationship.
The road to success is a bumpy one and there may be many detours. But those who stay the course and move forward, learning their craft and perfecting it as they go, will find that there are some obvious signs along the way. Learn from those who are doing it, those who are moving forward. If you want to BE an Amazon bestselling author, learn from someone who IS one. If you want a New York agent, learn from someone who has one. If you want Hollywood knocking on your door, learn from an author whose book has already been adapted by Hollywood. Success attracts success, so be sure to acknowledge even the smallest one.
~ Cheryl Kaye Tardif is the author of the following Amazon bestsellers: Whale Song, The River, and Divine Intervention. She has also completed a new novel Children of the Fog. In August 2007, she was the first Kunati Books author to hold a virtual book tour with 35 stops. Over the years, she has appeared on television and radio, and in newspapers and magazines across Canada and the US, and she has presented on book marketing and publishing options at conferences in Canada and the US. Cheryl currently resides in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. http://www.cherylktardif.com and http://www.whalesongbook.com
Separating the Wheat from the Crap: How to Choose a Book-Marketing Book by Marilyn Haight
By Jerry D. Simmons | November 11th, 2007 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
Hold on there, would-be editors—that’s not a typo! I mean crap. I’m talking about books that claim to reveal secrets of book-marketing that will make you rich. The worst among them are often the most spectacularly promoted. That’s because their authors are such good marketers, they could sell their used toilet tissue to a clean freak. Their content, however, will not help anyone else achieve the same level of sales success that they do—but they’re very good at convincing you that it will.
So, how can you determine which books might really help you and which to flush? Here are ten tips:
1. Ask other authors who’ve read the book about its usefulness. Make sure you know and trust the authors whose opinions you seek. Ask for specific examples of the results they got from following the author’s advice.
2. Read all the reviews about the book on Amazon.com. Don’t be swayed by the average rating, usually represented by stars. Good marketers of crappy books are very capable of getting other people to post false-positive reviews. Look for the lowest ratings; read them carefully. An author who’s been burned will tell you exactly what didn’t work and why. Place greater weight on these reviews.
3. Research the author’s work. Find the book’s description page on Amazon.com and click on the author’s name listed below the title. Locate the author’s Web site, too. Find out what kinds of books the author has published. If the author writes and promotes only book-marketing books, ask yourself how useful that author’s advice might be in helping you sell books in your genre—since that author has no experience promoting books in your genre. On the other hand, if the author writes in other genres, too, then check out the Amazon.com sales rankings of the author’s non-marketing books—especially those in your genre. If the author’s book-marketing techniques are good, sales rankings of their other books should be good, too—if the author follows her or his own advice. Sales rankings are located in the “Product Details” section. (Check the sales rankings over several days, since rankings can vary widely due to slight variations in the sales activity of the book you are investigating as well as all other books offered by Amazon.com. It is also possible that the author sells through a different channel, rather than online, so low sales rankings on Amazon.com are not an absolute indicator—but they do warrant further investigation.)
4. Examine the Table of Contents. Good marketers of crappy books often include a lot of *filler* in their text—information that’s not relevant to the topic of book-marketing. If you find a lot of information about other subjects, such as writing tips, editing and publishing, there’s probably too little information about book-marketing in the book—calculate how many pages are devoted to the topic. To find the book’s Table of Contents, check its description page and see if there is a “Search Inside This Book” note above the cover image. If so, click on the image and go to the Table of Contents. If the Search Inside feature is not enabled, check the author’s Web site. If you don’t find it there, conduct a Google Book Search (http://books.google.com/). Google has scanned many books so their content can be used as online search criteria. If Google has scanned the book, you’ll be able to read the Table of Contents. You might also check for a copy at a library. If you still don’t find it, send the author an e-mail message and ask for a copy of the Table of Contents.
5. Read excerpts. Check the Search-Inside feature for the book on Amazon.com, and the Google Book Search feature http://books.google.com/ (not all books will be found at these sites). Enter keywords and then access samples of the text. Read several excerpts to determine the clarity and depth of the book-marketing advice. If it tells you what to, do in general statements, but not how to actually do it, then it might be crap.
6. Test its resource links. Using the Google Book Search feature, or Amazon.com, look for references the author mentions in the book that have related Web site links. Try accessing the site with the link information (you may have to copy and paste it into your browser). If the links do not point you to useful resources, the book is probably outdated and may not be helpful.
7. Look for the author’s self-promotion. Check the contents you’re able to locate, and the author’s Web site, for self-promotion. If the text is full of statements such as, “call us” or “contact us for more information,” the entire book is probably just an advertisement for the author’s consulting business, in which case it will not be very helpful to you.
8. Look for promises and inferences. If the author promises, or infers, that you’ll be successful if you follow its advice, drop it—even if it uses examples of authors who have succeeded. Those authors may already have had a platform that gave them access to a large population of buyers, or they may have had a unique angle that became news. If you had a similar platform or angle, you probably wouldn’t need a book-marketing book.
9. Beware of new books offering promotional extras, like supplemental material or call-in seminars. If a book is truly helpful, it will stand on its own merit and will not need to entice you with goodies unrelated material or data that’s supplemental to the information you need. Nor will it require you to spend time doing anything other than reading the book.
10. Ask yourself why you want to buy a book-marketing book. Okay, I’m getting personal now. Most of the writers I know, myself included, would rather write than market our books. And we’re a highly skilled group when it comes to procrastination. One of the easiest ways to procrastinate is to study something to death. So, be honest with yourself. If you’re thinking about buying a book-marketing book only to postpone the inevitable, save yourself a few bucks until you’re ready to start your marketing campaign—then buy the current edition.
Marilyn Haight is a Writer, Author, Essayist; Poet; Humorist; Publisher & Internet Marketer. Visit her website http://www.WordedWrite.com
Authors Helping Authors – We’re All on the Same Team by Lois Stern
By Jerry D. Simmons | November 1st, 2007 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
I attended the Infinity Express Yourself conference once again this past September, 2007. But this year was a bit different than last, because I attended both as a participant and a panel presenter, along with Susan Haley, Michael Kleiner, Donna Jaske, and Jerry Simmons. Melanie Rigney was our moderator.
Our theme of authors helping authors as we navigate our way through our individual marketing paths is a helpful mindset to develop. As marketers of our books, we embark on an uncertain voyage. Our panel members have learned that the trip is far more productive (and fun) if you go it as a team.
I don’t deny that there is no one who can promote your book as well as you. After all, you are the one who has poured your heart, soul, and untold hours of labor into creating it. As a result, no one understands its voice, content, and messages, or will be as deeply committed to it as you are. No one will feel the same depth of passion. But that doesn’t mean we can’t help one another.
Let me share just a few things our small group has done to further the magic for one another. First, we have all purchased one another’s books and or audios, read, enjoyed and encouraged one another through our written reviews. But that was just the first step. We brainstormed and explored alternate markets for one another. Since our books are dissimilar in genre and theme, our markets are quite different.
Michael’s book is about Norway – its culture, language, geography and people – told through his warm memories of the many extended trips he has taken to this country. Michael had already been successful in getting fine reviews in several Norwegian publications. Our team is moving forward to promote Beyond the Cold by contacting the Sons of Norway presidents in our local areas. Can you imagine how many books Michael could sell if each of you Googled “Sons of Norway (your town)” and made a couple of phone calls for him?
Susan’s audio of Rainy Day People was just released by Talking Books Publishers. Her book is superb and the audio, equally magnificent! Since this is a work of fiction, we needed a different approach. Susan made a number of press kits, including information about her, her book and audio with the reviews they have received. Although library budgets are tight, currently many of them are spending money to expand their audio collections. We are each asking our friends in neighboring library districts to approach their reference librarians with a request to purchase this audio. Libraries like to please their own patrons. (And by the way, while they are at it, maybe they would order her book as well.)
Donna’s daughter, Kat, has written a trilogy of fiction books on fencing and musketeers geared to the high school and adult population. We are working on a unique fundraising effort for Kat and her books, but cannot share it yet.
Now for my book, Sex, Lies and Cosmetic Surgery, I have a wonderful set of reviews from both readers and professionals. The ASPS (American Society of Plastic Surgeons) placed my book as number 1 on their online bookstore after having it reviewed by 5 different Board Certified Plastic Surgeons. I have narrowed my niche market to the facilities of plastic surgeons, estheticians and salons. These professional will purchase my books in quantities of 5 or more at a 40 % discount, and sell them to their patients and/or clients. An additional bonus: Those purchasing 15 copies or more will be listed on my website homepage under the heading “Winners Circle”. Everyone loves being called a winner! Members of my panel are introducing my book to several plastic surgeons, estheticians and salons in their local areas.
By working together as a team, each of us is making great strides in getting our books into theme related specific niches beyond our own back yards. I must reassure you that if you adapt a team approach mindset, it will pay many dividends. Generosity reaps its own rewards. When you reach out to help others, it truly does come back to you – perhaps not in the same form – but in a positive form nonetheless. I encourage you to give with an open heart rather than a quid pro quo attitude. Go that extra mile for others and watch the synergy build.
We have some shining examples to look toward for inspiration. Darhis Clair is one of them. Her e-zine, Infinite Writer, is a labor of love and elegance. John Wolf brings us another e-zine, Fox and Quill, filled with a potpourri of writer contributions from as distant as India. Although John is geographically separated from those living on the east coast, he is always there to help in times of need. What about Jerry Simmons and his outreach to independent authors through his Nothing Binding web-site? Speak of generosity of spirit!
I encourage you to remember the words of this ancient scripture as you reach out to help your fellow authors:
“If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, then what am I? If not now, when?”
Lois W. Stern is the author of Sex, Lies and Cosmetic Surgery, a book that candidly shares the cosmetic surgery experiences of over100 women, including her own, while focusing on its emotional impacts, including the very words inherent to its title.
Both her website: www.sexliesandcosmeticsurgery.com/ and her monthly newsletter are packed with information, resources and timely articles. You can contact Lois or sign up for her monthly newsletter at: cosmeticsurgery@optonline.net Oct. 2007
